Milano calibro 9 / Caliber 9 (1972) - 3/10. This is such a stupid movie about a Milan crime organization that can't move money around efficiently. However, Mario Adorf does some first-class scenery chewing, and Frank Wolf makes a great police commisioner (or whatever). Luigi Pistili is just silly as the Marx-spouting cop who is so annoying he gets promoted and transfered out of the film (thanks for stopping in, Luigi). Always nice to see Barbara Bouchet, though.

La mala ordina / The Italian Connection (1972) - 6/10. This is more like it! NY mob boss Cyril Cusack (!) sends hitmen Henry Silva and Woody Strode (!!) to Milan to deliver a message to the local capo (Adolfo Celi) by bumping off one of his pimps--the great Mario Adorf (!!!) Turns out Mario has been set up, but before that's discovered, his inner hitman has been unleashed and there's no going back! Great premise, done well in fits.

« Last Edit: February 03, 2012, 06:09:42 AM by dave jenkins »

Logged

That's what you get, Drink, for not appreciating the genius of When You Read This Letter.

It is not a Fidani or an Ed Wood film. Most people don't think that it can compete with Welles' best films (I do), but I have never read such a negative comment from someone who is interested in film.

5/10 would already be a pretty negative rating for a film of that fame.

Well, what can I say... To me, everything was poorly executed. It looks to have been shot by an amator (random framing, obvious exposure and focus mistakes...), over acting (but could have done the actors since no one thought about writing characters), stupid plot... And the whole movie seems pointless to me. Apart from money, why did Orson say "I want to do it"? And the second question that comes to my mind is: do what? what is this film, what is it about?Now there is obviously something you see in it I don't see because if I had 10 thousand dollars to spend and 6 months to loose, I have the feeling I could do a better feature film than this one (apart from the last minutes) without even writing a script: I would select a few cool looking locations, some ok actors and a genre (film noir) and then go and improvise. It would be a bad movie, for sure, but better than this one. My point is not to say "look you're stupid this movie suck" but to try to understand what is difficult to do in the film. If nothing is, then there is nothing to talk about.

But of course, give me 2 years and 200millions, I could never do something as innovative as the last 5 minutes.

Well, what can I say... To me, everything was poorly executed. It looks to have been shot by an amator (random framing, obvious exposure and focus mistakes...), over acting (but could have done the actors since no one thought about writing characters), stupid plot...

This is where Welles started to fall too much in love with his own voice, looping actors who could speak perfectly well, but who didn't speak like Welles. I know that Glenn Anders (at least) was looped by Orson, using one of his funny voices. And that may account why that actor seems to give such a weird performance.

Btw, I've seen the suggestion that this film should be classified as "Screwball Noir", a designation I really like.

Logged

That's what you get, Drink, for not appreciating the genius of When You Read This Letter.

The Small Back Room aka Hour of Glory (1949) - 7/10. Danger UXB, with a bit of The Lost Weekend thrown in, all courtesy of Powell and Pressburger and the noir-like cinematography of Chistopher Challis. Kathleen Byron and David Farrar are the leads, but there are notable appearances by Jack Hawkins, Michael Gough, Cyril Cusack, Robert Morley, Leslie Banks, and Renee Asherson (Powell himself has a cameo). Set in '43, the story follows a bomb expert (Farrar) who must solve the mystery of a new type of terror device the Germans are dropping all over Britain. Office politics and department infighting--to say nothing of his own battle with the bottle--do not deter him, and finally he is led to a scene of great suspense toward the end. It's weird that this wasn't made until '49: seems like something produced while the war was still on.

Logged

That's what you get, Drink, for not appreciating the genius of When You Read This Letter.

Milano calibro 9 / Caliber 9 (1972) - 3/10. This is such a stupid movie about a Milan crime organization that can't move money around efficiently. However, Mario Adorf does some first-class scenery chewing, and Frank Wolf makes a great police commisioner (or whatever). Luigi Pistili is just silly as the Marx-spouting cop who is so annoying he gets promoted and transfered out of the film (thanks for stopping in, Luigi). Always nice to see Barbara Bouchet, though.

I'll give you Pistili, but where's the love for the fantastic soundtrack? I loved this movie. It was raw, well shot and a lot of fun, with a snappy convoluted plot. I always appreciate when films don't give you all of the information, which makes things ultimately more interesting - even though you pretty much know the outcome. The same can be said for The Italian Connection. The ending was great.

La mala ordina / The Italian Connection (1972) - 6/10. This is more like it! NY mob boss Cyril Cusack (!) sends hitmen Henry Silva and Woody Strode (!!) to Milan to deliver a message to the local capo (Adolfo Celi) by bumping off one of his pimps--the great Mario Adorf (!!!) Turns out Mario has been set up, but before that's discovered, his inner hitman has been unleashed and there's no going back! Great premise, done well in fits.

No mention of that absolutely insane chase scene or "the claw"? It lacked the great soundtrack of Caliber 9 but was probably better paced. It was just as fun and hectic though.

I was really surprised by the quality of the PQ of these movies; which are now my favorite 70s Italian crime movies, though there are a lot more I need to see.

« Last Edit: February 04, 2012, 01:31:00 PM by T.H. »

Logged

Claudia, we need you to appear in LOST COMMAND. It's gonna revolutionize the war genre. What did you think of the script?

From Here to Eternity - 7/10 - 2nd viewing. I think I commented on this years ago and I'll stand by that assessment. Great cast and Fred Zinnemann's ace direction in a death match with a mopey soap opera plot.

Well, what can I say... To me, everything was poorly executed. It looks to have been shot by an amator (random framing, obvious exposure and focus mistakes...), over acting (but could have done the actors since no one thought about writing characters), stupid plot... And the whole movie seems pointless to me. Apart from money, why did Orson say "I want to do it"? And the second question that comes to my mind is: do what? what is this film, what is it about?Now there is obviously something you see in it I don't see because if I had 10 thousand dollars to spend and 6 months to loose, I have the feeling I could do a better feature film than this one (apart from the last minutes) without even writing a script: I would select a few cool looking locations, some ok actors and a genre (film noir) and then go and improvise. It would be a bad movie, for sure, but better than this one. My point is not to say "look you're stupid this movie suck" but to try to understand what is difficult to do in the film. If nothing is, then there is nothing to talk about.

But of course, give me 2 years and 200millions, I could never do something as innovative as the last 5 minutes.

That sounds like an Ed Wood film, or a Fidani or Crea SW.Maybe a 10/10 is slightly overrated, but generally nobody thinks that bad about the Shanghai Lady. I would assume that most people would rate it between 7 and 9.At least I don't see anything amateurish in it. Don't you think that the film is very, very different in its looks from every other Hollywood film of the 40s? I see the will tomake it different in every respect, and for me it beautifully works. I also think that it has a good story, one which mainly serves the powerful images, not one which doesn't make any sense.

You may be right that Welles did it not only because he thought it would match Citizen Kane, some say it was his way to get revenge on his ex-wife Rita Hayworth, but then I say I hope that every ex-wife is so lucky to get such a fine revenge.

Re-Animator (1985) - 7/10Of course I should have watched this when I was 13-15, at the time when I watched the Evil Dead trilogy and Peter Jackson's early films but I never came across a DVD. Now it was a kind of a nostalgia trip, feeling like a thirteen-year-old again. But I was kinda surprised that it was honestly good; the funny bits were funny and the suspense bits were suspenseful.

Basket Case 2 (1990) - 3/10Somehow it doesn't feel right to rate this at all because of the "it's so bad that it's good" factor (I almost fell of my seat laughing). And yet that 3/10 came quite naturally. It's obvious that this sequel had at least ten times bigger budget than the original movie: the cinematography is relatively classy throughout the picture - but that just seems awfully wrong because the content is such a pile of shit. The original at least had some character, some balls if you will, but this is just a pathetic attempt at remaking not Basket Case but The Freaks.

I Know Where I'm Going! - 6/10 - 2nd viewing. Liked this a lot less than the first time. Wendy Hiller is always charming and there are some clever visuals, but the story is a very standard romcom plot and not done especially well.

A Matter of Life and Death - 9/10 - If you don't mind the slow, talky pace (who watching a P&P film would?), it's a keeper. Some really beautiful photography and a far more clever Heaven and Earth juxtaposition than most films manage. A witty script and with a dollop of self-effacement ("We're starved for Technicolor up there!") help a lot, and the effort to keep the film somewhat grounded is interesting. Really great cast, with Marius Goring and Raymond Massey standing out. A real treat, might even be my favorite barring some additional thought.